She was supposed to go to New York City to see friends for the weekend. That was back on May 6th. Two weeks later - nobody has seen or heard from 24-year-old Ashley Carroll.

The Troy mother was last seen by a family friend in the area of Quail Street and First Street in the City of Albany. Courtney Deaton says that's where she dropped off Ashley to meet some friends.

"She told me she was going to New York City for the weekend. I thought she was safe. I thought she was safe," cried Deaton.

The 24 year old mother had apparently been fighting with her boyfriend on the morning she went missing. Her mother says Ashley is constantly on her cell phone. But according to phone records, the phone hasn't been used since the day she vanished.

"I believe she never made it out of Albany," said Margaret Carroll, Ashley's mother.

She went on to say this is extremely unusual behavior for Ashley, who has never run away. And would never leave her daughter.

"She would would never go away and not call and say forget the baby. Never do that. I know my daughter," said Margaret.

Wednesday afternoon the family passed out missing person flyers on the streets of Albany - just a few blocks from where Ashley was last seen. They've also created a facebook page to spread the word about Ashley's disappearance.

There's now a $3,000 reward for information leading to Ashley's safe return. If you have any information, you're asked to call either the Rensselaer or Albany Police Departments. You can also call Ashley's mother Margaret at 518-334-1680.

RENSSELAER -- More than 12 days have passed since a 24-year-old mother went missing, and police continued Tuesday to try to piece together her movements as her family hoped a new Facebook page might produce leads.

Ashley Marie Carroll, who was living with her 1-year-old daughter, Arionnah, in a Troy apartment, was reported missing by her mother in Rensselaer. Carroll had lived with her mother for a time before moving to Troy, a family member said.

Carroll was last seen in the area of First Street in Albany, where she had gone May 6 in an attempt to meet up with a boyfriend with whom she was feuding, said the family member, who asked to remain anonymous.

Over the weekend, Sgt. Tony Nagengast identified the Albany boyfriend as Jermon McLean. He apparently was questioned by Rensselaer police, who had nothing new to report on the case Tuesday. Albany police spokesman Detective James Miller said his department stands ready to assist Rensselaer police should they ask for help.

The relative said another family member created the Facebook page, which has information on her disappearance, her physical description and several photos of her and her daughter.

Carroll, who doesn't have a car, got a ride to Albany on that Thursday and was dropped off on Quail Street, the relative said. She was last seen in a neighborhood her boyfriend frequents, the family member said.

Carroll intended to meet with McLean and then return to her apartment, pack a bag and go to New York City to spend a few days with a friend, her relative said. She told her family she would be back on May 9, Mother's Day. She left her daughter with a friend who was to baby-sit for the weekend, the relative said. Police have said the friend in New York has not seen her, and there is no indication she ever traveled there.

"We don't think she ever made it back home" from Albany, the relative said. "The clothes she was wearing weren't at her home, and her jewelry was all there, and she would have taken her jewelry with her to New York."

Carroll had worked at Wal-Mart, but had recently left that job and had not found another one, the relative said.

"She's never done anything like this," the relative said. "Twelve days. She would just not leave her daughter like that. Her face is on every pole in Albany, and there's a $5,000 reward out."

Nagengast said Carroll was wearing a black T-shirt, white or light-colored pants and flip-flops when last seen on First Street in Albany.

She has hazel eyes, long brown hair and olive skin, is 5 feet 5 and weighs about 140 pounds.

Family doubts missing woman went to NYCMay 19, 2010 at 8:30 am by Mike Goodwin

Ashley Marie Carroll disappeared 12 days ago and relatives are starting a Facebook page hoping it will generate tips about her.

Family members are dubious about the assertion the woman went to New York City.

“We don’t think she ever made it back home” from Albany, a relative who asked to remain anonymous told Staff writer Carol DeMare. “The clothes she was wearing weren’t at her home, and her jewelry was all there, and she would have taken her jewelry with her to New York.”

DeMare reports:

More than 12 days have passed since a 24-year-old mother went missing, and police continued Tuesday to try to piece together her movements as her family hoped a new Facebook page might produce leads.

Ashley Marie Carroll, who was living with her 1-year-old daughter, Arionnah, in a Troy apartment, was reported missing by her mother in Rensselaer. Carroll had lived with her mother for a time before moving to Troy, a family member said.

Carroll was last seen in the area of First Street in Albany, where she had gone May 6 in an attempt to meet up with a boyfriend with whom she was feuding, said the family member, who asked to remain anonymous.

Over the weekend, Sgt. Tony Nagengast identified the Albany boyfriend as Jermon McLean. He apparently was questioned by Rensselaer police, who had nothing new to report on the case Tuesday. Albany police spokesman Detective James Miller said his department stands ready to assist Rensselaer police should they ask for help.

The relative said another family member created the Facebook page, which has information on her disappearance, her physical description and several photos of her and her daughter.

Carroll, who doesn’t have a car, got a ride to Albany on that Thursday and was dropped off on Quail Street, the relative said. She was last seen in a neighborhood her boyfriend frequents, the family member said.

Carroll intended to meet with McLean and then return to her apartment, pack a bag and go to New York City to spend a few days with a friend, her relative said. She told her family she would be back on May 9, Mother’s Day. She left her daughter with a friend who was to baby-sit for the weekend, the relative said. Police have said the friend in New York has not seen her, and there is no indication she ever traveled there.

“We don’t think she ever made it back home” from Albany, the relative said. “The clothes she was wearing weren’t at her home, and her jewelry was all there, and she would have taken her jewelry with her to New York.”

Family seeks closure with search for missing womanPublished: Monday, July 26, 2010

ALBANY — “Gone But Not Forgotten.”

That was the message printed on t-shirts worn by members of a search party Sunday, organized by the family of a Troy woman who’s been missing since May.

Dozens of people gathered in Tivoli Park to help Ashley Marie Carroll’s family and friends search for clues to her disappearance, determined to both find answers and to make sure that Carroll would indeed never be forgotten.

Carroll, 24, was supposed to have left for a weekend trip to visit friends in New York City on May 6, but instead was last seen in Arbor Hill, near First and Quail streets. She was in the area to meet up with her boyfriend, James McLean of Albany, with whom relatives say she had been fighting.

She never made it to New York.

In her absence, relatives and friends are left with more questions than answers, along with sadness and confusion.

Carroll has a 2-year-old daughter, and close family friend Francecsa Hempstead said Carroll would never abandon her baby.

“She’s a good mom,” Hempstead said. “I could never imagine her leaving Arionnah like that. Ashley was always there for her family in any time of need, and she always made sure the baby had what she needed.”

Hempstead’s mother, Kyla LaMountain, who said she’s known Carroll “since she was in the womb,” also spoke about Carroll’s dependability and kindness.

LaMountain lost her young daughter to illness when Carroll was a teenager, and Carroll stayed by her side throughout the whole ordeal.

“She never left me, and she was there with me and my daughter up until she passed away,” LaMountain said. “She would never just have up and left for no reason. That’s obviously why we’re here looking. We think something terribly went wrong.”

Caroll’s mother, Margaret Carroll, said she organized the search in order to turn up clues and leads, and find out anything about her daughter’s whereabouts. The investigation has been short on answers, she said, and getting the word out about her daughter’s disappearance may help the family finally learn what happened to Ashley.

Those joining the search party Sunday signed a registry and were split into smaller groups, which fanned out across Tivoli Park’s 80 acres armed with shovels, rakes and walkie-talkies. Det. John Coleman, of the Albany Police Department, addressed the group before it dispersed, describing what Ashley was last seen wearing — white pajama pants, a black shirt and white flip-flops — and instructing searchers to call him immediately if they found any potential clues.

“We’re checking every single thing we can, following anything we can,” Coleman said.

But some in the search party don’t think police have been doing enough.

A woman, who identified herself only as Mindy, said she joined the search party to support the family, and expressed frustration with the investigation.

“Nothing’s really been done,” she said. “If she was a college student that went missing from SUNY, it’d be a different story. But she’s not.”

Margaret Carroll and LaMoutain also said they believe there are people with information about Ashley’s disappearance that refuse to come forward. Both women alluded to a close friend of Ashley’s who has since cut off contact with the family, hired a lawyer and stopped answering questions about the night she went missing.

“She’s got a baby, she’s got a mother that misses her,” LaMountain said. “Her mother probably can’t even sleep at night wondering what happened to her daughter. I mean, how do you do that to a family? I don’t understand.”

But more than anything — the anger, the frustration, the confusion, the sadness — Ashley’s family and friends yearn for her to come home.

“We just miss everything about her — her personality, her smile,” LaMountain said. “She had a whole future ahead of her, and we just want her back.”

“She has a baby that when she sees her mommy’s picture, she says, “Mommy, love you,’” LaMountain added as she began to cry. “Just even talking about it just breaks my heart because we just want her back.”

Margaret Carroll appeared weary and tired as she tried to articulate her state of mind since Ashley’s disappearance.

Tivoli Lake to be drained in search for Troy womanPublished: Tuesday, August 03, 2010

ALBANY – City police will drain Tivoli Lake today as part of their search for Ashley Carroll, a missing Troy woman who has not been seen since May 6.

Det. James Miller said the draining of the pond, located in Tivoli park in the city’s West Hill neighborhood, was "standard procedure" and said detectives have no specific reason to believe a body or other evidence related to the disappearance of the 24-year-old mother might be found in the lake.

During a past search of the park, Miller said, a police cadaver dog zeroed in on a shovel and fresh dirt in the park, but a subsequent dig found nothing of value. He said draining the nearby lake is simply a prudent next step in the investigation.

"There’s just draining it to see what’s in there, that’s all," he said, adding that "nothing specific" led them to the pond.

Carroll was dropped off at First and Quail streets on the day she was last seen to meet her boyfriend for a trip to New York City, but she was not seen again, family members have said. She and her boyfriend, James McLean, had been arguing, they said.

ALBANY -- After two days of draining Tivoli Lake, all police came up with Wednesday were two old cars, and officers remained mum on exactly what they hoped to find.

Nothing was discovered "relative to the investigation," police spokesman Detective James Miller said Wednesday. He was vague as to which investigation he was referring.

Early Tuesday, police indicated it was a possible search for missing Troy woman Ashley Marie Carroll, 24, who vanished presumably from the streets of Albany three months ago. Later Tuesday, police called it an undisclosed investigation and said the draining of the lake would continue Wednesday.

The city Water Department pumped the water out of the lake using a centripetal pump or industrial-type sump pump, Miller said. The machine "sucked the water from one end and pumped it out in the other direction," he said.

It was diverted into a ravine that serves as an overflow when the water level on Tivoli Lake, which is off Livingston Avenue, gets high, "so it was going into its natural spot," Miller said.

A hose was attached to the pump which has the capacity of pumping 1,500 gallons of water a minute, he said. A pond or lake the size of Tivoli "could hold well over 100,000 gallons of water," Miller said.

Carroll, who lived in a Troy apartment with her 1-year-old daughter, Arionnah, disappeared May 6. A friend dropped her off at Quail and First streets in the West Hill neighborhood of Albany, police have said.

She had told friends she was meeting up with her boyfriend, Jermon McLean, with whom she was quarreling through text messaging. He told police he never saw her.

Carroll's mother, of Rensselaer, reported her missing to Rensselaer police because the young woman had once lived in that city.

Logged

" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

ALBANY -- Three Albany men have been charged with kidnapping a high-level marijuana dealer who vanished in June and is presumed dead -- and investigators are probing possible ties to two other local missing persons cases.

Gino Uzzell, 47, of Green Street; Anthony Davis, 39, of North Allen Street; and Jason Benn, 37, of Hudson Avenue are charged with abducting Steven Jackson on June 13 outside a marijuana storage house on Parkwood Street.

Their arrests come after a six-month investigation that revealed possible ties to the disappearances of Ashley Marie Carroll, 24, a Troy woman last seen in May, and a missing man identified only as Donald Green.

Authorities believe Jackson, 41, of Guilderland, known as "Swag," was a drug partner of Uzzell, who allegedly orchestrated his abduction with the help of cronies that included his two co-defendants.

Jackson, formerly of Hempstead on Long Island, was awaiting the delivery of drugs in a deal involving around 500 pounds of marijuana when he was abducted, investigators say.

They allege the kidnappers watched Jackson on Parkwood Street -- using a GPS tracking device -- and engaged in a criminal conspiracy between Feb. 1 and June 16. The co-defendants and two other men allegedly communicated by cellphones during the scheme.

On the day of the abduction, the men allegedly watched the Parkwood Street spot from 8 to 11:07 a.m. Davis and another man placed calls to Uzzell before the abduction, which took place at about 1 p.m., the indictment said.

The investigation was aided by tips generated by media reports of Jackson's disappearance, District Attorney David Soares said in a statement.

Uzzell, known as "G," works for the state Department of Health. According to a 1996 article in the Times Union, he once operated Lenzell's, a Central Avenue clothing business, with his mother.

The store's grand opening in March 1996 attracted dignitaries such as Albany County Executive Mike Breslin and Mayor Jerry Jennings. "We're in it for the duration," Uzzell was quoted as saying at the time.

Authorities said Davis, known as "Inf," owns the Super Sandwiches and Deli Shop on Central Avenue in Albany. He was described as the muscle in the apprehension of Jackson.

All three men were charged with first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy. The kidnapping count alone carries 25 years to life.

Benn, known as "Jay," is charged with possessing stolen property because he allegedly used the victim's credit card on the day of the kidnapping at a Price Chopper supermarket on Central Avenue.

The five-count indictment was unsealed Thursday by acting state Supreme Court Justice Dan Lamont. The indictment said the conspirators' plan was to kidnap Jackson and "leave him to die."

It continued: "The object of the conspiracy was to thereby extract information from Steven Jackson relating to the location of marijuana and marijuana proceeds and so to acquire said marijuana proceeds from the person of Steven Jackson and/or from places under his custody or control."

Formal arraignments were postponed for Uzzell and Davis, who did not have attorneys. Benn was represented by Michael Feit. All three pleaded not guilty and are being held without bail at the county jail. Benn was clad in a shirt with an image of a crown and the words "of the hood."

Carroll vanished after telling friends she was meeting up with a boyfriend in the area of First Street in Albany. Her mother, who lives in Rensselaer, reported Carroll missing to police in that city, where Carroll had lived. Albany police subsequently joined the search.

"At least it's a starting point. We haven't heard anything," said Jim Carroll of Cohoes, uncle of Ashley Carroll. "I'm glad to hear something. It's been 244 days ... just not knowing is the worst. I can't tell you how many sleepless nights I've spent. Where could she be?"

ALBANY -- As teenagers in 1986, Ricky Thornton and Anthony Davis were locked up for crimes described as diabolical.

One victim -- a 79-year-old paint shop proprietor on Central Avenue -- was forced into a back room and tied to a pipe. Thornton grabbed the man's genitals and threatened further injury unless he forked over money.

During another robbery, Davis knocked down a woman in a Lark Street toy store, grabbed her brass-knobbed cane and beat her on the head, breaking her teeth as she cried for mercy.

And in two other robberies, women were shoved to the ground -- one of them an 80-year-old woman who broke her shoulder during a purse-snatching.

Nearly 26 years later, Thornton is in state prison. Davis, known as "Inf," owns a sandwich shop in Albany.

The men are co-defendants again, this time on allegations they kidnapped a high-level marijuana dealer who is presumed dead.

Thornton, 40, known as "L," was charged Monday with the June 13 abduction of 41-year-old Steven Jackson -- a disappearance being probed for possible ties to two other area missing persons cases.

State correction officers escorted Thornton into Albany County Court on Monday to face a five-count indictment alleging he helped abduct Jackson at 40 Parkwood St., a location off New Scotland Avenue that authorities have identified as a marijuana storage site.

Thornton faces charges of first-degree kidnapping, which alone carries a 25-years-to-life sentence, as well as felony conspiracy. Also charged are Davis, 39; Jason Benn, 37; and Gino Uzell, 47, all of Albany, who appeared in court last week. The indictment alleges Thornton bought a GPS tracking device on Feb. 4 to follow Jackson -- then kept track of him through the day of the kidnapping. Thornton is accused of communicating with alleged cohorts on cellphones that June morning he disappeared.

Thornton already was serving a 16 months-to-4-year stretch at Greene Correctional Facility for possessing more than $3,000 in stolen property on May 5, 2009, in Albany. He was transferred Thursday to the adjacent maximum-security Coxsackie Correctional Facility.

He pleaded guilty to the stolen property charge in April last year and was awaiting an Aug. 5 sentencing when he allegedly assisted in the kidnapping of Jackson, 41, of Guilderland.

A fifth person, identified as Louis Chaney, known as "God," and "UB," also was named in the indictment as an alleged conspirator. He has not been charged in the case.

The unsealing of the indictment Thursday followed a six-month investigation authorities say has possible connections to the disappearances of Ashley Marie Carroll, 24, a Troy mother last seen in May, and a man identified as Donald Green, 51, of Schenectady, known as "Uncle Noonie."

Authorities said they believe Jackson, known as "Swag," was a drug partner of Uzzell, who allegedly orchestrated the kidnapping. Authorities believe Thornton and Davis were recruited by Uzzell to target Jackson, according to people with knowledge of the case.

They allege Jackson was awaiting the delivery of drugs in a deal involving around 500 pounds of marijuana when he was kidnapped.

The indictment contends Uzzell, known as "G," alerted Davis and Thornton about "the delivery of marijuana and marijuana proceeds to Steven Jackson." Uzzell, Davis and Thornton allegedly tracked Jackson at his home and the Parkwood Street address.

On Monday, Thornton told acting Supreme Court Justice Dan Lamont he did not have an attorney. He asked for three weeks to find one, which the judge said seemed "a little on the long side." He gave Thornton until Jan. 20 to get a lawyer. Thornton was returned to state prison after the appearance.

Back in March 1986, then-15-year-old Davis was tried as an adult and sentenced to 4 to 10 years behind bars for first- and second-degree robbery by Albany County Judge Joseph Harris. At the time, then-Assistant District Attorney Christopher Rutnik said the crimes were "so violent and so diabolical" they "cry out for the full wrath of the criminal justice system."

He said the young robbers preyed upon "the frail, the defenseless, the elderly."

Thornton, 16, received 8 months to 7 years behind bars, as did three co-defendants. One of them was Jason Graham, who is serving 25 years to life for the August 1995 murder of Demere Hannah in Arbor Hill. Hannah has been identified as the brother of De Von Callicutt, who was convicted last month of the October 2008 murder of University at Albany student Richard Bailey. Another co-defendant was Corey Willis, who later charged with manslaughter in 1993. The disposition of that case was not immediately available.

All the defendants in the kidnapping case are being held without bail.

Logged

" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

ALBANY -- A longtime state Department of Health employee allegedly hired two men with violent pasts to abduct a high-level marijuana dealer presumed dead but is not a suspect in two other disappearances.

Gino Uzzell, 47, of Albany, is being held on $250,000 bail on allegations he orchestrated the June 13 kidnapping of 41-year-old Steven Jackson at 40 Parkwood St. in Albany, a location off New Scotland Avenue believed to be a marijuana storage house.

Investigators are probing possible ties between the Jackson abduction and the missing persons cases last year of Ashley Marie Carroll, 24, of Troy and Donald Green, 50, of Schenectady, known as "Uncle Noonie."

But authorities do not believe Uzzell, known as "G," played a part in those disappearances, according to people with knowledge of the case.

Law enforcement sources believe Uzzell was a drug partner of Jackson, known as "Swag." They say Uzzell sought the services of co-defendants Ricky Thornton, 40, known as "L," and Anthony Davis, 39, known as "Inf," to target the dealer.

Court papers allege that between June 14 and 16, Uzzell had cellphone conversations with four people to identify locations where Jackson could be storing marijuana and pot proceeds.

Jackson was awaiting the arrival of drugs in a transaction -- involving around 500 pounds of pot -- when he was abducted. Authorities said Jackson died at some point during the abduction, which took place around 1 p.m.

No arrests have been made or charges filed in the cases of Carroll and Green. Carroll, the mother of a 1-year-old girl, was last seen May 6 after being dropped off by a friend on First and Quail streets in West Hill. She was expected to meet a boyfriend, who told police he never saw her. Green was last spotted leaving the Silver Slipper bar in Albany on Feb. 26, 2010. Schenectady police have said the circumstances of Green's disappearance are "believed to be suspicious."

One person with knowledge of the case stopped short of identifying Thornton and Davis as suspects in the disappearances of Ashley and Green -- but said the men have definite connections to the open investigations.

The Times Union reported Tuesday that Thornton and Davis, as teenagers, were convicted for violent robberies described as "diabolical." In 1986, an Albany County prosecutor said the two then-teenagers were part of a group that victimized "the frail, the defenseless, the elderly."

In the case of Jackson, a five-count indictment unsealed last week accused Uzzell, Thornton, Davis and Jason Benn, 37, all of Albany, with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree felony conspiracy. Benn is also charged with possession of stolen property for allegedly using Jackson's stolen credit card at a Price Chopper the day of the kidnapping.

Uzzell, who was arrested Jan. 6 at his job in the Corning Tower, has worked for the Health Department since Oct. 15, 2001. He earns $49,821-a-year as a health program aide in the Division of Managed Care's office of health insurance programs, department spokeswoman Claudia Hutton said.

Uzzell has since been sent a "notice of termination" at his home and the Albany County jail and is suspended as the department takes actions to fire him. He can be paid for accrued time off while under suspension, the spokeswoman said.

On Thursday, Uzzell and Davis appeared separately in Albany County Court for formal arraignments before acting Supreme Court Justice Dan Lamont.

The judge agreed with a request from Assistant District Attorney Francisco Calderon to hold Uzzell on $250,000 bail.

The prosecutor told the judge that Uzzell, who has three prior misdemeanor convictions, has nine different addresses, including one in Irvine, Calif.

Terence L. Kindlon, the attorney for Uzzell, had noted his client worked for the state, all told, for 20 years and has no felony record. He said his client denied any complicity in the case.

Uzzell signaled hello to his family, including his wife and mother, as they watched the proceeding from the gallery. They declined comment.

Davis, who appeared without a lawyer, told the judge he hopes to hire defense attorney Bryan Rounds. His formal arraignment was adjourned to Jan. 19. Davis, who owns the Super Sandwiches and Deli Shop on Central Avenue in Albany, also said hello to family members in the courtroom.

Logged

" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

ALBANY -- The attorney for an Albany businessman charged with the 2009 kidnapping of a marijuana dealer presumed dead says his client has no connection with the disappearance -- or two other missing persons cases.

Anthony Davis, 39, known as "Inf," is among four men charged with the June 13, 2009 abduction of 41-year-old Steven Jackson at 40 Parkwood St., identified as a marijuana storage location.

The Jackson case is being probed for ties to two other missing persons cases: Ashley Marie Carroll, 24, of Troy, last seen in Albany in May; and Donald Green, 50, of Schenectady, known as "Uncle Noonie," last seen leaving an Arbor Hill bar last February.

But Davis' recently hired attorney, Bryan Rounds, scoffed at the allegations and any link to other cases.

"Anthony Davis had absolutely nothing to do with this kidnapping of Steven Jackson," Rounds told the Times Union. "Ashley Carroll and Donald Green -- again, my client had absolutely nothing to do with that."

Rounds said any connection to the Carroll and Green disappearances is pure speculation and "unfortunate and sad" for their families.

"Unfortunately, because I have not seen a solitary piece of evidence or heard of one that connects him to those disappearances," Rounds said, "and sad, because it gives these people who loved these missing persons the false hope that my client's arrest will bring closure for them."

Jackson, of Guilderland, known as "Swag," is described by authorities as a high-level pot dealer. Law enforcement sources allege Gino Uzzell, 47, known as "G," arranged the kidnapping of Jackson, who they identified as Uzzell's drug partner. They contend Uzzell recruited the services of Davis and Ricky Thornton, 40, known as "L," to abduct the dealer at the Parkwood Street address, located in a neighborhood between New Scotland Avenue and Ridgefield Park.

Between June 14 and 16, Uzzell spoke on the phone with at least four people "for the purpose of identifying locations where Steven Jackson may be storing marijuana and or marijuana proceeds," an indictment stated.

Law enforcement sources say Jackson was waiting for drugs -- in a deal involving around 500 pounds of marijuana -- when he was kidnapped about 1 p.m. He is presumed to have died during the abduction, which allegedly lasted at least 12 hours.

Authorities familiar with the case do not believe Uzzell played a part in the disappearances of Green or Carroll. They stop short of calling Davis and Thornton suspects in those cases, but said they have definite ties to the investigations. No arrests have been made in the disappearances of Green or Carroll.

Uzzell, Davis, Thornton and Jason Benn, 37, all of Albany, are all charged with first-degree kidnapping and felony conspiracy in the disappearance of Jackson. If convicted, they face 25 years to life in prison. Benn was charged with possessing stolen property because authorities allege he used Jackson's stolen credit card at a Price Chopper the day the man was kidnapped.

Davis, who owns the Super Sandwiches and Deli Shop on Central Avenue, was formally arraigned Wednesday before acting state Supreme Court Justice Dan Lamont. Thornton, in state prison on unrelated charges, appeared before Lamont Thursday represented by Conflict Defender Thomas Dulin.

The Times Union reported earlier this month that Thornton and Davis were convicted in 1986 as teenagers for violent robberies that victimized the elderly. Rounds said the past cases played no significance in the kidnapping case outside of making Davis a "very attractive target" for authorities.